Kaleidoscope
by Dolphin1721
Summary: Lex and Chloe run into each other in Metropolis. They both have stories to tell. Chlex all the way
1. Default Chapter

Kaleidoscope Author: Kira Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Insert witty disclaimer here. I own nothing.  
  
Kaleidoscope  
  
If there was one thing in the world Lex Luthor hated more than business meetings it was the over-dressed, over-paid, middle aged, plump, completely devoid of any personality, monotone, lackey his father sent to run the business meetings. He was sure at one point Mr. Hampton had a mind of his own and like so many other business men it was one of the lost things he missed the most.  
  
He had to resist the urge to just loll his head back, swing his arms limply at his sides and make an 'ughhhhh' noise in the back of his throat until it was over. But Luthor's didn't loll, swing, ughhhhh, or do anything remotely of the sort, and that's just how it was.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity the droning from the head of the table subsided, and Lex had to blink himself back to consciousness.  
  
"Well Mr. Luthor, what do you think of the contracts? They were rewritten exactly as you specified, much to the dismay of your father I might add," the man attempted to smirk at him though it came out looking more like a scowl.  
  
"I'll have my lawyers go over it once more, Mr. Hampton, just to make sure everything is in order." He had already planned to reject the contact, but the longer he stalled the more time he would have to think up what he was going to say to his father when the eldest Luthor got wind of it.  
  
"Thank you for your time Mr. Luthor. It was greatly appreciated," Mr. Hampton got up from the table and came around to shake his hand.  
  
'Yeah it should be greatly appreciated. That's two hours of my life I can never get back dumbass.' "Your Welcome." He released the man's hand and had to resist the urge to wipe it on his pants. 'Why do they all sweat so much? Go to the gym.'  
  
When his meeting room was deserted he plopped back down in his chair and pushed the call button to his secretary.  
  
"Hi, Mr. Luthor what can I do for you," she said in a tone so bright he wanted to ask her what her thoughts were on world peace. 'Why do I always hire former beauty queens?'  
  
"Mandy is it," he asked not waiting for a reply. "I need you to hold all my calls for the next hour or so. I'm going out to lunch. Oh, and order some of that Hand Sanitizer before the next meeting with Mr. Hampton."  
  
"Okay. No calls for an hour, and hand sanitizer," she repeated back to him dumbly. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"  
  
"Yes. You can win the Nobel Peace Prize for continuing effort to bring education and political freedom to the bush people of the African Plains, and put your expensive education to use." Did he just say that out loud?  
  
"Huh?" He could hear her rapid blinking.  
  
"Nevermind. Just hold my calls," he sighed ending the conversation and collecting his jacket.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The winter was one of his favorite times in Metropolis. It made everything a little more mysterious. People pushed past him wrapped up in scarves and jackets, their breaths coming out in little plumes of condensation. Mothers prodded their children to bundle into their jackets farther until only their noses peeked out into the cold wind.  
  
Lex Luthor however thrived in the cold gloominess of the Metropolis afternoon. His bald head stood out, uncovered, against the gray sky attracting stares from passerby's. There were the young twenty-something's who read the society pages. Of all the types of people they were the ones he hated the most. The men, using the term lightly, looked upon him with disdain, hating him for his seemingly lucky draw from the gene pool. What little they knew. The young women would brush up against him with fake plastic smiles on their faces waiting for him to do or say something. He often wondered what they expected him to say.  
  
'Excuse me Miss. Yes you in the Britney Spears Baby Gap T-shirt. I was wondering if perhaps you would like to join me for an evening of attempted conversation in which we find the only thing we have in common is changing oxygen to carbon dioxide. Followed, of course, by a late night of hot sex, which is probably the only thing your good at aside from chewing gum and walking at the same time. When we wake up in the morning I will profess my love for you and ask you to be my bride and share my billions of dollars with me. Does that sound alright with you?'  
  
Instead he always just smiled and brushed past them on his way to bigger and better things.  
  
Today his bigger and better destination was a coffee shop/ underground theatre that was a hot spot among the Metropolis yuppies. The Green Room was known for its eccentric clientele as well as superb coffee, which was exactly what he needed to get through the afternoons impending meeting with his lawyers. They would no doubt tell him all the same things they had been telling him for the past two years. Get Married. Family Image is important. We need to watch the stocks.  
  
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts of business that he barely registered the flash of blue before it slammed into his lower leg.  
  
"Hey watch out," he snapped as he steadied himself. He looked down to find the perpetrator and dish out some ass whuppin' only to be met with the huge green eyes of a little boy.  
  
He couldn't have been more than five, dressed in a blue sweater and jeans; his blonde hair stuck straight up in defiance of gravity. He had on one mitten the other, Lex supposed, had been forgotten, or lost to the streets of Metropolis. The most striking feature was his bright ocean green eyes, which were staring, unblinking, up at him. Something tugged at the back of his mind making him think he had seen those eyes before.  
  
"Sorry mister. I didn't see you," he said jamming his uncovered hand into his pocket.  
  
"I would imagine not, you were going pretty fast." The boy smiled proudly at the fact, showing his little white baby teeth.  
  
Lex scanned the lunch time crowd around him seeing if anyone panicked when they realized their son wasn't next to them. No one did.  
  
"Who do you belong to?"  
  
The boy narrowed his eyes and stuck out his lower lip. "Myself. Who do you belong to?"  
  
Independent little thing. "Myself as well. Where is your mom?"  
  
The little boy shrugged and flipped his mitten-clad hand in the air. "Off. But I'm not supposed to talk about anything with strangers," he stated as if just remembering the cardinal rule for anyone under ten.  
  
" Well then I guess we shouldn't be strangers anymore. Alexander Joseph Luthor," he stated pushing his gloved hand out toward the boy. "My friends call me Lex. Actually," he amended "everyone calls me Lex."  
  
The boy took his hand and shook it hard and jarring. "Joseph Maxwell Carter," he said proudly still shaking his hand. "We have the same name. Well middle name. Well yours is different than mine. That's kinda neat. Oh, my friends call me Joey."  
  
"Well Joey how old are you," he asked silently wondering why the kids' parents weren't flipping out and yelling by now. 'They must've read 'Parenting: An Art in Ignoring' by Lionel Luthor.'  
  
"Four. Five in the Summer. How old are you?"  
  
'God. For a four-year-old he sure does ask a lot of questions.' Lex ignored how good it felt to be spoken to directly and not feared; to be looked at straight in the eye was not something that happened to him a lot. Most people said exactly what they thought he wanted to hear and refused to look him in the eye. "Twenty seven."  
  
Joey's strikingly familiar eyes widened as he took in the great number. "Wow. That's old."  
  
Before Lex could open his mouth to snide back at him a dark bundle launched itself at Joey and proceeded to squeeze the life out of him.  
  
"Don't you ever do that to me again, young man. I swear to God I thought they had taken you. Were you trying to give me a heart attack? Lord I said stand here for two seconds so I could drop the mail into the slot I turn around and you're gone. I was so scared." The woman finally ended her rant and set about checking Joey for injuries.  
  
Lex just watched, partly amused while the woman talked, and partly amazed that she could say it all in one breath.  
  
He cleared his throat and said, "I don't think any harm has come to him in the past three minutes unless you consider good conversation a harm."  
  
"You arrogant, bast. son of a. man," she stated whirling to face him. Suddenly the memory of where he'd seen those eyes before came smashing into him.  
  
"Chloe?" 


	2. Pre Introductions

A/N: Chapter Two is finally up. Sorry about the delay. My week has been like the Odyssey. We got stuck in the blackout in NYC and couldn't get a flight back until three o' clock Monday morning and I ad to start school at eight. However, in the blackout (which was absolutley fun) I started thinking how would Chloe and Lex react in a blackout. hmmmm  
  
A/N/N: This chapter is knid of dark. It will get funner. There are also some issues of drugs so if this offends you please don't read it.  
  
Chapter Two: Pre Introductions  
  
When she had first moved to Smallville the one thing Chloe Sullivan had missed the most had been the feeling of being lost in a crowd. The random faces that passed you and nameless figures who brushed past your shoulders. She had reveled in the feeling of anonymity that came with being in a sea of people.  
  
The closest that she had come to that feeling in Smallville had been the time Junior year when she got lost in the Kent's corn field and that was more scary than anything else.  
  
As an aspiring writer she and her friends used to sit on the patio of one of the local coffee shops and make up stories about people. Where they had been, what they had done, and how of all the places they could have been they ended up there on that street at that time. Everyone who passed was turned into a spy or royalty. She had learned much later on that the former queens and CIA agents of her childhood were nothing more than average clones going to their average jobs to pay for their average lives. Presently she surrounded by a world of grey and average people all of them seemingly above average height. 'Why am I the only person here under five and a half feet,' she wondered as yet another business man shoved into her.  
  
"Hello. Person standing here." He didn't even glance back at her. "Jerk."  
  
The feeling that encompassed her now was something akin to panic. Scratch that. It was panic. She could feel the bile rising in her throat and the tears were threatening to spill five minutes ago had given in and were sliding down her cheeks. She jumped once again trying to gain a sight line above the hustle of the crowd.  
  
If you had told her two years ago that she would be standing in the middle of the Metropolis lunch crowd, trying to hold back sobs because of a young man named Joey Carter she would have laughed in your face and told you she didn't cry for people she didn't like. 'Oh what a cruel fate life is.'  
  
It just goes to show that no matter how much you plan for your future sometimes life happens to it anyway. She could remember the day she got the call three years ago.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The boxes were still stacked against the far wall of her living area. Her laptop was set up on the floor the table not scheduled for arrival until later that week. The smell of new carpet filled her nose as she closed the door behind the last mover. It was her own apartment and she could do with it what she pleased.  
  
Chloe was reveling in the independent life, staying up late, however childish it was, watching whatever the hell she wanted on TV and keeping her refrigerator sparsely stocked with yogurt, pizza, and coffee.  
  
"Ah the diet of every reporter," she sighed to herself.  
  
When the shrill ring of her cell phone cut through her thoughts of a grocery list she jumped and began searching for the obtrusive object. She ended up having to climb over a pile of boxes and rummage through a heap of magazines before finally finding her purse and answering it without so much as a hello just before the machine picked up. It was always the same person.  
  
"Hey Clark. I'm fine. No one has broken in and threatened my virginity so there's really no need for you saddle up your white horse or to call every hour on the hour for that matter. Getting you own apartment." she trailed off when she realized it wasn't her bumbling farm boy that she was talking to. "Who is this?"  
  
"Chloe. It's your mother."  
  
"Oh." Possibly not the response she was aiming for. Not hearing from someone in months tends to have that effect on the conversation.  
  
"I need you to come over," she said almost pleadingly. Chloe's breath hitched as she tried to quell the feeling rising in her. Sliding down the wall she wrapped her arms around herself suddenly feeling like a very small girl in a very big world.  
  
"I don't have any money for you." 'That's the only reason she called, to get money for her little addiction.'  
  
"I'm not calling about money. I need you to meet someone Chloe. I need your help please just come over." The tone of her voice stirred something within Chloe that had been lying dormant since her mothers' departure a decade earlier. "Please."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chloe looked down at the scrawled writing on the paper. 1603 Terrace Park Apartment 7f. 'God it's in the projects,' she thought looking up at the dingy apartment building.  
  
As much as she dreaded going in it was getting dark and she shivered at the thought of staying out on that street after hours. She climbed the stairs in the 7 block of and walked down the trash littered cement hallway. D.E. and there it was. Apartment F.  
  
In there sat her mother. The person who had abandoned her and left her with a hole that nothing could replace. It had taken her a long time to realize that she could never fill the void and it had taken even longer to build the bridges over it.  
  
The door was made of wood that, at one point, a tenant had painted red. After years of neglect and misuse the paint had chipped around the edges and the color had faded to nothing more than a murky brown.  
  
Standing there contemplating the door she realized that if she knocked on it her life would be irrevocably changed. She looked back down the hallway at the trash and dirt and suppressed a laugh that the easy way out looked so bad. 'It would be so simple to walk away. Put one foot in front of the other and leave all of this behind.'  
  
She raised her hand to knock, then put it back at her side. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what would happen when that door was opened. She was just turning to leave when the hinges creaked and the murky brown was replaced by the figure of her mother. Sometimes fate opens the door for you. How fucking polite.  
  
'I guess the easy road was under construction,' she thought as she took in the sight of her mother for the first time in nearly twelve years.  
  
"Look at you. You're so pretty. How are you? How's your life? Tell me all the wonderful things you're doing," her mother said as if she was a long lost college buddy instead of her long lost daughter.  
  
Chloe just stared at her. There were no words that could be said to someone who had abandoned you. The occasional phone call had only been a temporary reprieve from her motherless world and had usually ended with Chloe in tears over how low her mother's life had spiraled.  
  
She supposed the drugs had started after she was born. When her father had found out they put her in a program and moved to the other side of town where nothing was familiar. Chloe was too young to understand what was happening but she was not too young to understand that it was tearing her family apart. She saw the look in her father's eyes every time her mother left the house, and heard the yelling when she came home. The last time she saw her mother she had come home high again, her eyes wild and unfocussed. When she woke up in the morning there were the infamous burnt waffles staring back at her. Four years later her father told her that it was him who asked her mother to leave. At first she had hated him for it, much later she admired him for it, fully understanding the courage it took to tell someone you loved to leave.  
  
And here she was staring back into those eyes she had almost forgotten. Her mother half smiled and stepped aside so Chloe could come into the shabby apartment. The couch on one wall had more holes in it than actual covering. The carpet was stained several different shades and the smell of the places filled Chloe's nostrils. The kitchen to the left was lit by a fluorescent light that reflected against the yellow table top casting the ugly color over the room. Dirty dishes piled high in the sink and the broken faucet dripped in a maddeningly slow pace. The only other door from the 'living area' was into the bedroom that Chloe could only guess was as decrepit as the rest of the place.  
  
"Why am I here," Chloe asked more to herself than her mother.  
  
"Because I needed you to come," her mother replied. In the silence that followed that statement Chloe wanted to yell at her. To scream at the top of her lungs for all the times she had needed a mother. Her nightmares, her period, her first kiss, her first day of high school, falling in love, Algebra, graduation, getting her heart broken, healing, and every day in between she had needed her mother to talk to her. But she had done it herself, and more importantly she had never compromised herself to do it. She was better than her mother and she realized it now more than ever.  
  
Suddenly the room became too small for Chloe to breathe, the smells rushed her senses, and the heat pounded into her. She grabbed her bag and turned toward the door when a small cry sounded from the bedroom.  
  
She froze. Eyes closed she turned to her mother. When she opened them the answer to her question was written clearly on her mothers face.  
  
"His name is Joseph. Joey for short. He has your eyes. He's a year old yesterday, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I just couldn't pick up the phone and call you," she rushed out. "I'm sorry. Really."  
  
"Is he okay. I mean you didn't. You know. While you were pregnant.?" It was the only thing she could think of.  
  
"No. He's healthy. I didn't... I stopped when I found out." The words came out broken and wrought with emotion.  
  
All Chloe could do was take a shaky breath. The feelings inside of her were too much, and the words that needed to be said were buried somewhere underneath them. Her mother walked into the other room and a few seconds later returned holding a little bundle and a diaper bag.  
  
"I need you to take him."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I need you to take him Chloe," her mother said a little louder. "I have debt with a few bad dealers and they're coming. Soon. I can't risk him being here when they do."  
  
Her mother held the baby out to her and he let out a small mewling sound. She took him and he snuggled into her chest. It felt strange to Chloe having someone so close. "I can't do this."  
  
"Chloe you have to. This is the last time I'll hurt you, I promise. Please." The fear in her mother's voice scared her and she began backing her way to the door. She didn't know how to care for a child. She didn't want to know. She had a life, had friends, and a future, and all that was going away.  
  
When she reached the door she swallowed all of her fear looked her mother straight in the eye and said the one thing she had always wanted to say. "I'll never be like you mom. Never. I promise you that."  
  
"Don't break that promise Chloe. I'm sorry." And with that she closed the door.  
  
That had been the first second of the rest of her life. After that day Chloe had made another promise, and that was to never be scared of anything again. She was breaking her promise horribly. She jumped one last time in the direction of The Green Room and saw a bald man who seemed to be talking to his feet.  
  
'Feet, Ground, Short, Joey.' She thought rushing in that direction. When she saw him she nearly started crying again. She grabbed him and pulled him into her chest. When she was done chastising him she set him down and knelt in front of him checking him for injuries. He appeared to be alright and she was about to turn to the bald man when he said in the snidest tone possible. " I don't think any harm has come to him in the last three minutes unless you consider good conversation a harm."  
  
Chloe's inner She-Bitch woke up and lengthened her nails. Who the hell did he think he was first of all not immediately finding out who the little lost four-year-old belonged to. Secondly of all the arrogant, pig-headed, male egotistical things to say. He was bald and that only looked sexy on one man and she knew he didn't think he could pull off Lex Luthors look.  
  
"You arrogant, bast. son of a. man," she stated remembering she was standing in front of a four-year-old.  
  
Whirling to face him she prepared to dish him one of his own when she stopped short. 'Oh God.'  
  
"Chloe?" 'Oh god. She looks good. Oh God. Chloe has a kid.' 


	3. Post Introductions

Post- Introductions  
  
"Lex!"  
  
"Chloe."  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Chloe?"  
  
"Yes that is my name, though I've been thinking of changing it to Lisa. What do you think," she asked her tone sarcastic.  
  
Lex just shook his head. How could she have a child? She couldn't be more than what? Twenty-two. 'Twenty-three,' his mind supplied for him after doing the math. 'That means Joey minus 4 equals 19 minus 9 months of pregnancy equals she got knocked up pretty quick upon leaving Smallville.'  
  
'Or maybe it was before she left Smallville,' his annoying inner voice spoke up. 'That would mean it was. No. Never.'  
  
Chloe snapped her fingers in front of his face and waved at him when he blinked. "You all right there?"  
  
"Yes. Sorry just doing some numbers for a business meeting this afternoon," he lied smoothly, glancing at the young boy who was currently unraveling his remaining mitten.  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry. This is Joey. Joey this is Lex Luthor," she said remembering her manners.  
  
"Alexander Joseph Luthor," Joey corrected stressing the likeness in their names.  
  
"We've already met," Lex stated still puzzled at the situation he was in. Chloe smiled up at him and he ignored how quickly it warmed him up. The warmth he felt reminded him of the chilly air and as if on cue Chloe shivered. For the first time since their encounter he took in how she was dressed. A knee length, plain, black skirt adorned her lower half and her dark green top was covered with a long sleeved jacket that wouldn't have stopped the cold even if the wind weren't blowing. Her short hair was up in clips leaving her neck exposed to the elements. He frowned at her lack of warm clothing and assessed that all in all she looked down right cold, and, that it looked far too cute for comfort.  
  
Without thinking he pulled of his heniously expensive jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders trying to cover her up a little. 'Nope. Didn't work. She still looks cute.'  
  
Chloe just stared at him. After a moment she shook her head and motioned towards The Green Room. "I'll buy you a cup of coffee."  
  
"Which one of us is the billionaire," he asked the blonde who was already halfway to the trendy shop pulling Joey behind her.  
  
"Which one of us gets the employee discount of 100%," she shot back holding the door open for him.  
  
"You work here," he asked honestly surprised. He wasn't a regular, regular but he frequented the place enough to have recognized Chloe if he had seen her.  
  
"Yep. We'll consider it a celebration of surviving two weeks in this yuppie- infested, overly trendy 'coffee' shop," she said putting air quotes over coffee, and helping Joey into a chair at the table. "If I have to tell one more person that whipped cream defeats the purpose of coffee, I'm going to put my head in the espresso machine and put a quick end to it all. I had the morning shift today and I swear someone voted it national whipped cream day because every other person who came in ordered it Ughhh."  
  
"What happened to being a reporter," he asked. He hadn't kept close tabs on her back in Smallville, but he had followed her work for the Torch and some editorials she had published in the Daily Planet.  
  
"Life got in the way," she said giving him a smile far too sad for someone so young. It looked like his when he was her age. "Maybe when he goes to college I'll go back as well. It's only what, twelve more years?"  
  
Reporting was still her passion but it didn't put food on the table. She continued to write in her spare time, which was becoming less and less frequent. Working around Joey's school schedule with her work schedule meant spare time was spent doing things like cleaning up their apartment or paying bills. All the real life stuff your parents warn you about but you never think will happen to you.  
  
"Why isn't he in school right now," he asked remembering that it was a lunch hour on a weekday and that a four-year-old would be in school right now.  
  
"It was cold," Joey supplied now playing with a pin on Chloe's bag.  
  
"The heater broke. You know public schools. So they called me to come pick him up halfway through my shift."  
  
"Which doesn't bode well with your brand new boss," a woman standing beside the table finished for her. She was tall and thin, with short dark hair, and black, square glasses. She wore a waiters apron and carried a pad and pen. She pulled up the seat next to Chloe and leaned over to give her a quick hug.  
  
"Lucky for me I have the best boss in the world." She said smiling brightly at the woman sitting beside her.  
  
"Hey Joey my man," she said to the young boy sitting across from her.  
  
"Hey Miranda," he looked up from his now shredded napkin. "It's a dinosaur." He smiled at his creation that still held more bearing to a shredded napkin than a dinosaur.  
  
"Miranda this is." Chloe started.  
  
"Lex Luthor," she finished for her again. "I know about him what with being among the living and all. So Mr. Luthor what brings you to this humble abode.  
  
"Good coffee, and good company," he said smiling at Chloe, just a little surprised when she didn't swoon. It wasn't that he wanted her to swoon he was just used to it. 'You've been hanging around to many well painted Barbie's, Luthor.'  
  
"Please call me Lex," he said turning back to Miranda, and flashing her his trademark smirk.  
  
She raised her eyebrows at him and turned back to Chloe. "You didn't actually buy that did you," she questioned before laughing loudly, and patting Chloe on the back. After regaining some of her composure she took their orders and got up to place them.  
  
"Why didn't you buy my charm back in Smallville," he asked watching her expression change to one of nostalgia.  
  
"I was a little too busy placing bids on someone else's," she replied, grabbing Joey's hand before it got to the salt and pepper shakers, and handing him her napkin to shred.  
  
"Clark." He didn't even try to hide the coldness in his voice.  
  
"Are you still mad at him," she asked him the lilt in her voice unbelieving.  
  
"He lied to me," he replied simply. It was as simple as that. Clark Kent, Superman: Lex Luthor's enemy number one. If someone had asked him to recall the event that changed their friendship into the bitter torn rags of memories he couldn't have told you. It wasn't a falling out or a fight, or any singular event, rather a large melting pot of lies and deception that led him to being hell bent on destroying his former friend. But, if someone really wanted to know he would have told them that the one person he trusted lied to him.  
  
"He lied to all of us. Don't take it so personal." How could she be so flippant about it? He had a carefully constructed empire built on his dislike for Clark and her was a tiny blonde girl telling him not to take it so personal.  
  
"He should have just told me," he said sounding more and more like the four- year-old sitting next to him.  
  
"Well let's see why he didn't tell you. He probably thought you would look at him with complete disgust, run out of the room and then over the proceeding years attempt to kill him. Oh, wait a minute that is what you did. Whoops."  
  
"What you have had me do? Throw him a party, a coming out of the closet for our dear friend," he asked letting his anger slip just a bit. Knowing Chloe, she would step up to the plate.  
  
"You know you're right Lex. All the secrets you shared with him really built up that trust. You can't just expect someone to sit down and tell you the deep dark past," she challenged him the former glint returning to her eyes.  
  
"What's your deep dark past, Chloe," he said unblinking. She was saved from answering when Miranda returned with their orders.  
  
"Hey Chlo, Sadie just called in sick so if you wanna' pick up some extra hours you could work her shift," she said placing a coffee down in front of the other girl.  
  
"Thanks. Ummm, I'll call Clark and see if Joey can hang out with him today," she said pulling out her cellular. Lex tried not to notice that Clark was on her speed dial. His inner voice started listing off things that he could do to get on her speed dial. He attempted to get it to shut up before he said something stupid.  
  
"I could take him." Something just like that. 'You've resorted to baby sitting for her. Why don't you just offer to carry her books for her.'  
  
"Huh," Chloe looked at him like he was crazy.  
  
'Say "Nothing. I didn't say anything. You must be hearing things you crazy, pretty, girl." Say that.' "I could take him," he repeated.  
  
"Umm. That's okay," she said ending the call with Clark before he picked up. "I'm sure you have better things to do."  
  
"Just a business meeting with my father that shouldn't take more than ten minutes." 'You're trying to talk her into letting you baby sit. Hahaha. You're no better than Clark with Lana.' He gave her his best mature adult smile.  
  
"Okay," she said laughing just a little. "Okay just drop him back off here at seven. Joey you're going to spend the afternoon with Mr. Luthor, alright. Now I want you to be on your best behavior, young man."  
  
Joey nodded in approval. And grabbed Lex's hand. "Here's my number. Call me if you need anything," she said jotting her number on one of the un- shredded napkins. "I'll be here if you get sick of him or anything. Umm, and try to watch your language. He copies what he hears."  
  
Lex wanted to laugh at Chloe giving him parenting advice. "I'll take good care of him. We'll see you at seven. Bye, Chloe."  
  
"Bye." Ohh this is going to be interesting both adults thought at the same time. 


	4. Interlude:5 years before

Interlude: 5 years before  
  
She walked down the deserted hallway, her steel toed boots making a clinking sound echoing through the empty corridor. In her hand she held a yellow manila folder held shut by a small metal bracket. Writing was scribbled across the front from random times when she couldn't find a sheet of paper. When she reached the door that she was looking for she paused and rested her head against the cool wood. She took a deep steadying breath and pushed it open revealing the handsome young man sitting at the desk. He looked up from the computer he was working on flashing a bright smile at the figure at the door. When he recognized her the smile immediately fell to the hard linoleum floor. 'Here goes nothing,' the young woman prepped herself for the grueling conversation ahead.  
  
"Chloe," he said a lilt to his voice that made her want to slap him.  
  
'Saint,' "Clark," she replied keeping the venom out of her voice.  
  
The year leading up to that moment had been one of the hardest in her life. Looking back on it she would laugh at herself and think of all the things she would have done differently; she was, after all, human. The year had been full of hard lesson and hard decisions which had all led her to be invariably standing in front Clark, feeling like she was once again, on trail. However, this crime she did commit.  
  
Working for Lionel Luthor had been a whirlwind of roller coasters. She had gone to him to escape the feelings Clark awakened in her only to find that Lionel was like an older, richer, version of Clark. She was his personal search engine in all things strange and weird in Smallville. She had started having reservations about her investigating after Clark's disappearance the summer after sophomore year. When he asked her to investigate his son she gave in to her reservations, and began keeping hard copies of the information she gathered for the eldest Luthor. She didn't know what it was about Lex but she refused to do that to him. After he had returned from the fateful honeymoon broken in more ways than one, she had started to pity him. When he returned to work ignoring the chronic whispers that followed him, she began to respect him. When she caught a glimpse of him shirtless, she tripped, and nearly broke her ankle.  
  
It was lying in the hospital bed after that melancholy meeting with the Luthor's Persian rug that she began to formulate her plan. She would continue her 'internship' with Lionel until she had gathered all the information she believed that she could, she would quit and turn the information over to whomever it may concern. The good part of her plan was that - as twisted as it sounded - Lionel didn't trust her, and she had never given him any reason to. Because of that he thought she was stupid, which, boy was he about to get a kick in the ass. The bad part of her plan was that though Chloe thought she was a damn good reporter she didn't know how she fared as an actress. Whatever farce she put up she would have to continue (and live through) until she quit.  
  
Facing Clark now she took a deep breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding for the last four months. She'd put in her resignation that morning on the grounds that school work was getting to be too much. Lionel had given her an incredulous look and for a second she thought that he could see straight through her. He shook his head and signed his name to the bottom.  
  
"I hear you're applying for early admissions to Met U," he said his voice cutting through the silence and calming some of her fears.  
  
She offered him a tight smile. "Yeah anything to get out of this shit- hell."  
  
He laughed and gave her a pointed look. "I've enjoyed working with you Chloe. You remind me of me when I was younger except blonde and. with breasts."  
  
She laughed at his faltering statement and nodded. "Compliment duly noted."  
  
And with that she left and went directly to the high school. She called Lana on the way to find out if she had succeeded in getting Clark to the Torch office. The brunette had confirmed his presence leaving Chloe to simply walk into the school and talk to him. 'Huh. It sounded so easy.'  
  
"What are you doing here," he asked her as she slung her messenger bag to the ground.  
  
"Last time I checked it was my office," she replied wincing at how snide her tone was.  
  
"Right. Lana told me that you had to work tonight, so I thought I'd come in and finish my editorial. in peace." The implication in his voice was not missed by Chloe. After a year of working with Lionel Luthor she'd learned to mentally flick him off and be on with her life.  
  
"I quit," she said matter-of-factly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I quit. An hour ago to be exact," she hated repeating herself.  
  
"Why?"  
  
She just stared at him. Her left hand began tracing little patterns on the folder she still held in her hand. She held it out to him.  
  
"This is every piece of information that Lionel Luthor has on you. I got it from his penthouse in Metropolis, the mansion here, and several other subsidiary laboratories he has spread around," she said in one breath. Clark stared at the folder before opening it slowly. Chloe continued unsure if he was still listening.  
  
"When I was six my dad taught me to play chess and he always said guessing your opponents move was key to winning. This is what Lionel will base his next move on. He still has all this information, I just wanted you to know what he knows." They sat in silence for a few moment before he reached the last page. He held it out to here.  
  
"What's this," he asked, his voice full of emotion.  
  
"My early acceptance to Met U. If I go I have to start packing tomorrow," she said leaving the statement hanging in the air.  
  
"Why did you do it Chloe," he asked pleading with his eyes.  
  
"Because I hated you," she said simply. "You made me feel worthless and I had to get away from that."  
  
"And now?"  
  
"I lied to a Luthor for the past four months. I risked my life every time I went to work. I don't do that for people I hate," she said offering him a weak smile.  
  
Silence surrounded the duo for the next few moments. After a while Chloe grabbed her bag and headed to the door. "I should start packing."  
  
Clark looked up from the papers on the desk to the girl at the door. "Don't go?"  
  
Chloe froze at the door. She turned slowly to face him. "Give me a reason to stay."  
  
He looked down at the papers again, then back up at her. His eyes slowly traveled around the room and a smile played at his lips. "Well I'd be applying for the job of managing editor of The Torch."  
  
She looked at him absurdly for a second then started laughing hysterically. For the first time in a long time she felt good.  
  
Lex sat at the corner table of the quiet little restaurant and wrung his hands in nervousness. Chloe had called to schedule a meeting with him and he was sure she was going to tell him that his father was planning on finally taking over LexCorp. He had felt it ever since he had returned from the hospital after the plane crash. He was lost in thought when the blonde plopped into the seat across from him. She pushed a envelope towards him without even saying hello.  
  
"Your father is going to take over your company," she started. Seeing he was trying to speak she shushed him. "This is the information you'll need to bring him down. Don't ask me how I got it because you know I can't tell you."  
  
She bit her lip as if considering the next action to be taken. Without warning she stood up, leaned down, kissed him firmly on the lips, the pulled back before he could return the it. "That was incase your father kills me before I see you again."  
  
And with that she left. Lex was partly pissed because it was the most important conversation of his life and he didn't even get to say anything. The other part of him was flustered. Ever since he had seen Chloe sneaking a peek at him he began to notice her more. The kiss had been far to quick for his licking. He put his fingers to his lips and smiled down at the envelope. 'Leave it to Chloe to ruin two Luthor's in one day.' 


	5. Lonny, Mike, and Duke

"How cute was he," Miranda asked wiping off the counter. "Sauntering in here like he owned the place."  
  
"He probably does," Chloe replied under her breath. "Anyway, saying Lex Luthor is cute is like comparing Satan to a giant pastel bunny that gives you chocolate if you ask it nicely."  
  
Miranda made a purring noise and licked her lips. "You think he'll give me some chocolate if I ask real nice," she drawled before throwing her head back with laughter. She recovered just in time to grab the wet rag Chloe threw at her before it hit her face. "No, really what's the deal with you guys? You were kind of chummy back there."  
  
"We have history," she said not wanting to delve into all the juicy details. Miranda leaned her chin on her fist and put a set look on her face.  
  
"History like Mr. Sanders writing on the chalk board, take notes because theirs going to be a quiz on Friday history, or, 'Chloe why don't you come to my big mansion so we can screw like'," she paused and put a sly smile on her face. "Bunnies."  
  
Chloe groaned. "I'm never going to be able to live that stupid analogy down am I?" Miranda shook her head, a big smile plastered on her face. "Our 'history' is somewhere in between." Miranda looked at her expectantly. "I worked for his father for several months trying to gain enough information to destroy his company so Lex could reap all the benefits, at the same time as I was trying to save Clark from whatever fate Lionel had in store for him, and, make enough money to buy the new iPod laptop that I wanted, which, by the way, in the end turned out to be a total waste because it didn't have nearly enough ram to store everything I needed it to, but in the end it all turned out for the better because Clark is saved, Lex is in charge of the company, I got an even better laptop, and, Lionel is just old, though, he still has amazingly great hair. Bastard."  
  
"Was that all one sentence," Miranda asked raising one eyebrow.  
  
Chloe repeated it to herself then nodded.  
  
"So you helped bring down LuthorCorp?"  
  
"Only a little bit," Chloe replied in a small voice. At that Miranda let out a very un-lady like snort.  
  
"Only a little bit? Chloe Sullivan what the hell are you doing working in this place like this," she motioned to the restaurant around her. "Only a little bit? No wonder he's so smitten."  
  
"What are you talking about? You go on about this place like it's a strip bar and Lex is not smitten with me," she said in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
"Ohh, Its just Lex now. So did you two ever get it on," she asked waggling her eyebrows at the short blonde.  
  
"What are you in like second grade," she asked trying to stop the blush that was threatening her cheeks. "You're like a second grade boy."  
  
"Ohhh, You and Lex Got it On. Yeah you did. Chloe got some." Chloe grabbed the other woman's arm to silence her before she started singing and dancing on the table.  
  
"We didn't sleep together. Hell we only kissed once. Well, actually I kissed him once." She stopped when Miranda's eyes got wide.  
  
"You only kissed once," she asked incredulously.  
  
"Yes. Why? What's wrong with that," Chloe asked confused.  
  
"Way I see it that Luthor's a fine piece of man. Sort of like a bag on Lay's." At Chloe's questioning look she clarified. "You can never have just one."  
  
Chloe shook her head and chuckled. "You are a second grade boy. You're name is Mike. You raise hell when the teacher is out of the class and you make little girls cry. Bad Mike," she said laughing. The bell above the door jangled as a couple came in and sat in Chloe's section. "I'm going to go take care of them."  
  
"You do that. People may start to think we don't work around here," she called to the retreating figure.  
  
"Whatever you say Mike," she threw over her shoulder before taking the couple's order.  
  
Lex Luthor buried his head in his hands and groaned. Nearly two decades of living with his father had taught him the art 'The Placid Expression': When the face showed complete interest in whatever the speaker was saying but the ears heard none of it. He thought his skills to be unbeatable, Olympic even. No one had ever dared test his ability to look unfazed. Until now.  
  
".And then my teacher, Miss. Tina, she made us all make pictures with glitter and Richard said it was stupid. I don't like Richard but his mom makes really good cookies, he said it was stupid and Miss. Tina made him stand with his nose to the wall and count to a ten, but I don't think Richard can count to a ten. So I made my glitter picture."  
  
Joey was seated in one of the chairs around the conference table where the meeting between the heads of two major companies was about to take place, and he didn't have a care in the world, except glitter pictures. All the chairs around the table were rotating chairs, so Lex had heard the entire recount from the first day of school to when Alex had eaten all the glue while the little blonde spun himself around. He was sure whomever designed the board- room had not had four year olds in mind. Lex was fine as long as he didn't throw up. Barf and Armani didn't match. Just as Joey began telling him about how he learned that a joey was also a baby kangaroo the door to the conference room swung open.  
  
His father stepped through followed by three lackeys. Joey stopped spinning and took in the four men. "Hi."  
  
All four men looked at the child with amazement. If Purity could kill Lex would be out a father and in an inheritance.  
  
"Father quit looking at him like a zoo animal," Lex's voice cut through the room snapping his father out of the dazed expression he was shooting at Joey.  
  
"Wow. You're Lex's dad. Cool. How old are you," Joey rushed together, while he jumped out of his chair. "What's your name."  
  
Lex tensed as his father knelt down in front of Joey. Lionel peered at him for a minute but the boy never wavered for a second. "Lionel Luthor. And who, may I ask, are you?"  
  
"Joey. Li-o-nel," he said accentuating each syllable. "That's a funny name it makes you sound like a girl." With that he turned and skipped back to his chair to continue his spinning.  
  
"He's not yours is he," Lionel asked directing his question to the youngest Luthor who now had his head resting on the table.  
  
"If he is I don't remember the process by which he got here, which would make it quite an unfortunate conception if you ask me," he replied not bothering to raise his head up from the table. Lionel nodded once in understanding.  
  
"Good. I think." One of Lionel's lackeys's placed a brief case on the table before Lex and removed several papers. "These are concerning the upcoming meetings with Wayne Enterprises. I hear there's going to be a charity ball that evening. Sounds like fun. Now, I know you like that friend of yours but it shouldn't interfere with your cutthroat business-manship. Don't screw up these deals Lex."  
  
"Is that all father because I really have more important matters to attend to." Lionel looked at Joey then smirked.  
  
"It would appear so." He leaned down close to Lex and whispered in his ear, "I hope she's worth it son."  
  
With that he gathered his papers and made his way to the door with the three men in tow.  
  
"Lonny."  
  
Lionel spun round around with a shocked look on his face. "What did you say young man?"  
  
"I'm going to call you Lonny. It's a much better name," Joey said assuredly looking at Lionel across the table.  
  
The eldest Luthor made his way across the room and sat in the seat right next to Joey. He turned the boy to face him and placed both of his hands on the armrests.  
  
'Please don't kill him. Please don't kill him,' Lex chanted in his head. "Dad," he said with the hint of a warning. Then something amazing happened. The cool façade his father always wore cracked and turned into a big smile before it evolved into an outright laugh.  
  
"I haven't been Lonny since Woodstock 1969. God that was an amazing place. The music, the bands, the girls," he said suggestively at Lex. Lex was in the twilight zone. He wasn't sure if his mouth was hanging open because he couldn't feel his face. "Well, What did you think I did in the 60's? Look at my hair."  
  
"School, taking over businesses, ritual sacrifices," Lex shrugged still not believing that his father was once a hippie.  
  
"Not in '69, son. That year I was Lonny Lonnel. Protesting Nam. Flowing with the music. It was a socialist paradise," his father said dreamily.  
  
'Is that like a gangsters paradise where everyone gets shot equally.'  
  
"What's a Woodstock," came the voice from beside Lionel.  
  
"Let me tell you, young man, Woodstock was as close to heaven as this old man's ever going to get," Lionel/ Lonny replied as he settled himself in to tell the boy the whole story.  
  
"Duke have them hold the limo down stairs. We'll be here a while," he motioned to one of the men still standing at the door. "It all started when." Lex groaned and thumped his head back down on the heavy oak table.  
  
"I give up." 


End file.
